-> DAY 59
The 60 days are up, so it’s time to wrap up this magnificent 2024 edition, clearly one of the finest, with a course offering a compendium of beauty, a magical race for first place and a group perfectly in the state of mind we love!
As we conclude this edition, we start by saluting Michael Polak, who is still on his way but who will be stopping off in the north of Spain. He will have been slowed down by imperfections in his solar system. But well done to him – he’s one of the few adventurers to have taken part in 3 editions of The Sun Trip!
The 2024 prize list :
So here are the rankings for this Sun Trip 2024, with a historic hat-trick of wins for Jack Butler, who not only takes the solar challenge, but also the People’s Choice Award and the Jury’s Choice Award! While in 2021 Jean-Marc Dubouloz won both the time trial and the People’s Choice Award, this is the very first time that the fastest man has also been recognised by the organisers as the most multi-talented adventurer, by a wide margin. Jack Butler’s triumph is therefore complete, having already won the Jury’s Prize in 2018, and the fact that he has also received the votes of the public shows just how well he has combined performance with good communication.
His statement : “I would have been perfectly happy to share the prizes with the others, but this is amazing news for me. It was such hard work also managing the youtube video production. My suntrip would have been much easier for me if i hadn’t made the extra effort. I’m really glad i did to capture all the memories of each day”.
Solar challenge ranking (only solar recharge)
- 1 : Jack Butler, in 23 days and 2 hours
- 2 : Jean-Marc Dubouloz, in 23 days and 6 hours
- 3 : Kilian & Jonas, in 33 days and 8 hours
- 4 : Géry & Baudouin, in 35 days and 8 hours
- 5 ex aequo : Vincent Gallego et Luciano Trumpler, in 41 days and 2 hours
- 7 : Vivien Dettwiler, in 43 days and 6 hours
- 8 : Herman Segers, in 46 days and 3 hours
- 9 : Jean-Louis Mérelle, in 48 days and 4 hours
- 10 : Vincent Lauga, in 49 days and 6 hours
Only the “Coup de Coeur” special award escaped the English, and the organisers wanted to salute the fine overall performance of Vivien Dettwiler from Switzerland, an adventurer who built a highly original solar bike, came 7th in the race (despite losing 4 days to technical problems in Agadir) and took some very fine photos throughout the journey. His versatility also made him 2nd in the Jury’s Choice Awards.
Among the other participants who made it to the top of the leaderboard were Kilian & Jonas, who won an unprecedented 3 bronze medals, and Géry & Baudouin, who made it to the top of the leaderboard three times! The two duos on the adventure put in a superb performance. High level!
Last but not least, well done to the adventurers Herman Segers and Jean-Louis Mérelle. Each in their own way, they have imposed their style on this adventure, Herman in particular with his additional loop in the Moroccan Sahara, Jean-Louis with his excellent travel log on Polarstep. Great art!
We can’t end this adventure without a message of thanks to all the participants. Their spirit has been remarkable. We’re proud of them and we’d like to thank them for being such good ambassadors for solar mobility.
Finisher rankings
- 1 : Jack Butler, in 23 days and 2 hours
- 2 : Jean-Marc Dubouloz, in 23 days and 6 hours
- 3 : Kilian & Jonas, in 33 days and 8 hours
- 4 : Géry & Baudouin, in 35 days and 8 hours
- 5 ex aequo : Vincent Gallego, Luciano Trumpler and Bertrand Goudenhooft in 41 days and 2 hours
- 8 : Vivien Dettwiler, in 43 days and 6 hours
- 9 : Herman Segers, in 46 days and 3 hours
- 10 : Jean-Louis Mérelle, in 48 days and 4 hours
- 11 : Vincent Lauga, in 49 days and 6 hours
- 12 : Miguel Letor, in 59 days and 6 hours
Non-starters : Raf Van Hulle, Lucaci Arnorld Vasile
Abandonments : Patrice Plozner (April 22), Richard Defay (May 8), Jiri Strulp (May 29), Michael Polak.
Finally, thank you to the Sun Trip technical team for all their preparatory work, and thank you to the members of the jury, who for 2 months were on hand to enforce the rules of our adventure. You can be proud of them and their kindness.
At the moment we don’t know whether we’ll be able to organise a 6th edition of The Sun Trip. The concept works perfectly, but it also has to face up to the reality of the economic stakes. We’ll be in touch after the summer to find out more about the possible next steps.
Thank you for your loyalty to the project. Long live the solar bike and long live the Sun Trip!
